Performance Challenges - Ad-Aware Free - Lavasoft

In June 2010, Lavasoft AB performed extensive research to gain understanding of the performance and amount of resources used by popular anti-virus/anti-spyware products on the market today. We know customers are looking for faster and lighter products, while still not compromising the security of their PC's. By focusing on core consumer needs, Ad-Aware provides advanced threat protection, and is significantly lighter and faster than our previous versions (and than many of our competitors.)

The charts below show the results of these tests. The test configuration and the specific versions of the software are listed after the graphs.

Memory used during scan

* Malwarebytes uses more than twice as much memory during scans than Ad-Aware Free.

Scan time

* Microsoft Security Essentials takes almost 4 times longer to perform a scan than Ad-Aware Free.

Clean-Up Comparison

In many cases, even after scanning and removing infections from your computer with anti-malware software, fragments of the infection are still left behind. Ad-Aware goes a step beyond simply detecting and removing malware; Ad-Aware intelligently cleans and rids yours system of harmful traces of the infection in order to restore your computer.

Below is a comparison between popular anti-virus/anti-spyware programs and their clean-up process of common infections. The test configuration and the specific versions of the software are listed after the graphs.

Hotbar (Total % removed)

* Hotbar was not detected by AVG, thus the infection was not removed by these programs.

Csrss (Total % removed) Taskmqr (Total % removed)

* Taskmqr was not detected by AVG, thus the infection was not removed by this program.

Test System Details

  • Vista 32 bit
  • RAM 1GB
  • Hard Disk 16GB
  • Intel Core i7 2,67 GHz

Software Configuration

All products were updated with the latest available updates as of the date of test.

Ad-Aware Free Internet Security
Version 8.3
Avast! Free Antivirus
Version 5.0.507.0
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Version 9.0.0
Avira AntiVir Personal — Free Antivirus version
Version 10.0.0.567
Iobit Security 360
Version 1.41
Microsoft Security Essentials
Version 1.0.1961
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Version 1.46

Go to Performance Challenges - Ad-Aware Pro

Go to Performance Challenges - Ad-Aware Total Security

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About Lavasoft

Lavasoft is the maker of Ad-Aware, the world's most popular anti-malware software with over 350 million downloads.

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